Dear LPG readers,

I recently decided to take a look at some of the many posts that LPG offers and came across one that got me taking a sobering look at days gone by (►►►).  It reminded me of how the government completely changed the significance of the one day in the week ( Sunday ) when so many of us had little choice but to pay a bit of attention to less work-focused things. The fact so many shops and services were not available did force the average person to slow down a bit once a week. 

Despite all that, I spent most of my working years doing jobs where working on Sundays was standard procedure. I remember only missing that extra social freedom our restful Sundays offered once I retired. I suspect that, for many pensioners, nearly every day is more like Sunday once you don’t have the time restrictions that the working week enforces. 

Once I retired, I imposed a few rules to make my Sundays memorable again. 

Since retiring, I have spent quite a few years looking after my young grandchildren, which has kept me busy during the weekdays. Spending my days looking after my grandchildren in their environment allowed me to separate the weekdays from the weekends. But though it seems as if that will last forever, they have a habit of growing up and going to school, which, in my case, left me with all that extra time on my hands again.  

Have any other grandparents noticed how often their children will offer their young children (our grandchildren) a mobile phone or tablet to keep them occupied for quite a long time?   This has always bothered me, although when spending days babysitting in their houses, apart from doing a bit of lunch-making, their house cleaning and washing up, we grandparents tend not to multitask as much when we are not in our homes.  I remember spending a lot of time learning about their toys and how to play again 2020s-style, playing card games and board games with them, doing potentially messy things like painting and the dreaded playdough that you take into the garden, taking them out to places like the library and so much more.  I did try to keep them too occupied to need to use their electronic toys, although there is always that question you are asked where the easiest way to find the answer involves Google.

Looking back, perhaps I indulged them a bit. Since my babysitting days, I have noticed how much more I use my electronic devices when I am with the young ones.   I learned a lot more about how and had a lot more reasons why 

I decided to do something to remind myself that Sundays should be at least a bit special, so I devised a self-imposed  rule. On Sundays, I ban myself from using the internet and only allow myself to use my phone (mobile or otherwise) to answer or make calls.

I thought I was sticking to that rule until one day, when my babysitting skills were called upon again.  My son and his other half had to go somewhere with little notice, and they brought the little ones to my house one Sunday not so long ago.  They know my rules, but I rarely see them without their parents at the weekend.  Without all their toys to fall back on and after an hour or so of catching up and a snack, we got to one of those questions that I did not feel equipped to answer without internet backup, so I reached for the phone only to be reminded of my own Sunday rule by the little ones.

You don’t realise how easy it is to depend on technology once you get used to it…

JE, Sydenham

While no one is average, LPG found some statistics about our relationship with IT…

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